Big changes to the Game Maker's Toolkit Patreon (Patreon)

I hope you had an awesome Christmas, if you celebrate it. I certainly did! And I'm also enjoying my break from Game Maker's Toolkit.

(Well, I say break. I was just capturing footage for the next episode earlier this week. Whoops!)

So... lots of amazing stuff happened this year. But for me the highlight was of course Game Maker's Toolkit, and Patreon.

Since March you guys have been supporting the show, financing it, and literally making it happen. I've been able to spend more time on it, I've been able to buy games and hardware to make it better, and I haven't had to do anything with ads or sponsorship or anything grim like that. So thank you!

But, I do want to make a few changes to the Patreon - specifically, the rewards system - for the new year. And I'm doing it for three reasons.

One, is the simple and obvious one: to increase pledges. I've already been able to make some fab career choices thanks to Patreon, which has meant I can spend even more time on the show. But there's so much more I'd like to do!

Also, I want to improve the rewards. I don't really like the vlogs and my Patreon updates are infrequent at best. This stuff should be on the same level as GMT itself, or it's just not worth doing.

And the third reason is to better reward those who have been generous enough to pledge more than a dollar. I appreciate every single cent, but it bums me out that those pledging $3, $5, whatever are not getting the thanks they truly deserve!

So here's what I'm doing.

At the $1 tier, you'll get access to a monthly newsletter-style written update on the Patreon. This will contain extra thoughts and info on that month's episodes, sneak peeks and opportunities to help with future shows, other bits and bobs about what I'm up to, and links to articles and videos I've been reading that I think you'll dig.

At $3 you'll get the newsletter and access to an exclusive monthly video called Game Maker's Playlist. In each episode I'll be recommending games that you might have missed. I'll tell you why they're good or at least interesting from a design perspective. And it will have similar production values to the main show - scripted, properly edited, and with good audio and video quality.

At $5, you get to watch each episode of Game Maker's Toolkit 24 hours early, and your name will appear in the credits for every video while you pledge. Plus, all the previous rewards.

Hopefully this makes sense, and you understand why I'm doing it!

And yes, this means that the vlogs will be going away, which I'm sorry about - trust me, it was not an easy decision to make. As some form of consolation, I am offering the first episode of Game Maker's Playlist for all Patreon subscribers. You can watch it here, or embedded above! I hope you enjoy.

Please do let me know what you think: the last thing I want to do is upset anyone. I'm always open to your feedback.

Finally, thanks again for your support. It's hard to express what it means. It's very weird to be honest, but it's also huge. It;'s not just the money, but it's the moral support that comes from knowing that people like what I'm doing enough to pitch in and help the show grow. it means so much, and I want to do whatever I can to reward and thank you guys!

Note: If you're already backing this Patreon at a higher level, you'll need to opt in for the rewards in the settings.